Printing House Square

Printing House Square was once a walled courtyard in the City of London. It took its name from the King’s Printing House, which moved here after the Great Fire of 1666. The site was first called Printing House Yard and later renamed Printing House Square. The printing office stayed until 1770. Today the square no longer exists, but its name lives on in local memory. The square was home to the Daily Universal Register, launched here in 1785. In 1788 the paper became The Times and kept its offices on the square for many years. The newspaper moved to Grays Inn Road in 1974 and later to Wapping in 1986. The Grays Inn Road building was called New Printing House Square. The whole block, bordered by Queen Victoria Street, Blackfriars Lane, Playhouse Yard and Ireland Yard, was later redeveloped. The redevelopment created the BNY Mellon Centre. It now houses the London base of BNY Mellon and other offices. The square itself has vanished, but its history remains part of the City’s story. Visitors can still sense the old printing-house atmosphere in the surrounding streets. The nearby alleys and courts recall the square’s past life.